A local oscillator (LO) signal is required for receiving and transmitting in a wireless (RF) communication device, such as a cellular telephone. A voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is typically used in a phase-locked loop to generate the LO signal. The quality of the VCO signal, for example the phase noise, signal to noise floor, output power and environmental stability) that is required by the RF system strongly influences the current consumption. The current consumption is a very important consideration in portable, battery powered communication devices, as it impacts the duration of the talk and standby times between required battery recharging operations.
In different cellular systems different operational requirements are present, and the opportunities to reduce the power consumption thus differ as well. Also, different usage conditions and wireless network environments place different demands on the required quality of the VCO signal. For example, when no strong interference sources are present a lower quality VCO signal may be adequate.
When a mobile station is required to operate with only one cellular system, such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system or a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, the VCO (and PLL) can be optimized for operation with that one specific system. However, in dual and higher mode mobile stations (e.g., GSM/WCDMA) the designer is faced with providing one VCO that is not entirely optimized for operation with either, or with providing multiple VCOs, one for each supported system. As can be appreciated, neither approach leads to an optimum reduced power consumption solution.
An example of the use of the multiple VCOs in a mobile station operable with different cellular networks can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,652, “Frequency Synthesizer and Multiplier Circuit Arrangement for a Radio Telephone”, by Jaakko Hulkko.
Another example of a VCO used in a mobile station can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,071, “Minimization of the Power Consumption in an Oscillator”, by Osmo Kukkonen. This patent presents a method for minimizing the current consumption and the operating voltage of a VCO, where the oscillator's RF output signal is detected as a DC voltage signal in a clamp/voltage multiplier circuit. The detected signal is supplied in a feedback loop to a field effect transistor (FET) that controls the oscillator's current. In this manner the FET controls the current to be a predetermined minimum value.
Conventionally VCOs having fixed bias voltage circuitry have been employed, and the bias voltage within the VCO has typically been heavily filtered. However, the amount of filtering must be controlled so as not to make the VCO too slow to stabilize when switching channels.
Also, in conventional usage the VCO has been powered on all the time in the conversation mode, while in the receive/idle mode the VCO has the fixed bias level, and is switched off only when it is determined that it will not be required again for some predetermined period of time (that is typically longer than the time for one or several bursts in a TDMA-type system, or some hundreds of microseconds).